US reaches $5.15B settlement with Anadarko Petroleum for cleanup of widespread toxic legacy

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FILE - In this May 7, 1953, file photo, Navajo miners work at the Kerr McGee uranium mine at Cove, Ariz., on the Navajo reservation in Arizona. Kerr-McGee left abandoned uranium mine sites, including contaminated waste rock piles, in the Lukachukai mountains of Arizona and in the Ambrosia Lake area of New Mexico. The Lukachukai mountains are located immediately west of Cove, Ariz., and are a culturally significant part of the Navajo Nation. This site is among thousands that are part of the .15 billion settlement with Anadarko Petroleum Corp. with approximate amount of funding for cleanup efforts and details about the sites, in information provided by the Justice Department. (AP Photo)

WASHINGTON – The federal government has reached a $5.15 billion settlement with Anadarko Petroleum Corp. for the cleanup of thousands of long-contaminated sites nationwide, the largest ever for environmental contamination.

The company said Thursday that the settlement resolves a legal battle over Tronox Inc., a 2005 spinoff of Kerr-McGee Corp., a company Anadarko acquired in 2006.

The Justice Department and Environmental Protection Agency also announced the settlement.

Kerr-McGee has a long legacy of environmental contamination at uranium mines and wood-treatment plants.

The U.S. initially sought $25 billion to clean up decades of contamination at dozens of sites. A U.S. bankruptcy judge in New York in December found Kerr-McGee had improperly shifted its environmental liabilities to Tronox and should pay between $5.15 billion and $14.2 billion, plus attorney’s fees.

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